In the January 20, 1998 issue of the Novi sad weekly 'Nezavisni', Fehmi Redzepi reports from Pristina on the current situation in Kosovo.

The most frequent question in the last few months concerning Kosovo is - will a war break out there ? Nobod can, or wishes to answer that with either yes or no, not only because there are contradictory movements of people and institutions of the Southern Balkan region (and in the last few years other interested parties outside of this region) which are influencing the situation to move into either direction, but because other invisible forces are in action, those to which individuals and nations fatalistically surrender themselves, due to general impotence to create another perspective of peaceful life and social well being.

Since last Autumn, the situation in Kosovo is not as it was before. The balance of fear that has guarded the state of neither peace or war has been disturbed. In the Albanian ghetto, created by Serbia, its position, and almost complete opposition, a new generation of young Albanians grew up which does not know what it means to live normally. Almost literally, it matured and grew in the underground. Continuously hiding somehow from the police, which is present at every step, it went to school and the university and secretly listened to lessons in garages and cellars of private houses.

This generation of Albanians is now trying to get out of the underground. It refuses to accept what their parents did, and Serbia is doing everything, even through a threat of war, to keep them in the current position.

Those who do not know Kosovo, which come to Kosovo occasionally, follow events there from Belgrade, or permanently live in Kosovo connect the current intensifying to the appearance of he Albanian guerilla groups which present themselves as Kosovo Liberation Army. Still, they did not predict the danger of a major disturbance, and even less to bringing the situation to war boil. This due to the fact which one should not lose from sight that, in spite of some armed attacks, KLA is still practically moving in the realms of firm political rethoric. That is why for the newly arisen situation the most important factor is not its appearance, but the rise in numbers of Albanians which identify with it.

Since the outbreak of the Kosovo crisis at the beginning of the last decade, it is openly spoken in the Serbian press and official political and military circles that in the case of war in Kosovo., all purely Albanian settlements would be wiped out. Data was also given, as if it was a question of purely mathematical calculations. A Belgrade general has said a few weeks ago that in the case of war in Kosovo, Yugoslav Army would take care of business in 48 hours. Since you cannon destroy two million people with bombs and bullets in two days, this means that the Yugoslav army would use mass destruction weapons. The general literally mentioned the word destruction of Albanians when he made the estimate that the 48 hour solution is possible only if the West does not involve itself. And if this happens, it is his estimate that all three sides: Albanian, Serbian and Western one have to count upon heavy losses.

This is in broad terms the main theme of the political discourse of the local Serb politicians, and in recent times almost the only theme when Albanians are spoken about and their political demands. Most combative are the individuals who consider themselves the leaders in Serbian enclaves around Kosovo. They are attempting to revive Serbian national meetings of ten years ago, as if they do not see the destructive results of such policy.

Since recently, there is also talk of war as a possible development in the Kosovo crisis in some segments of the Albanian population. Joining the continued Serb combativeness is, I would say, a certain desperate Albanian mood that all this is not bearable anymore, that the policy of passive waiting is aimlessly losing men and its general vitality and that insistent Serbian refusal of any dialogue concerning a political solution, not only that the Albanian policy so far has no chance, but leads towards gradual marginalization of the Albanian factor in Kosovo.

Such thinking within the Albanian movement are not new. But, they have become the direct danger after the appearance of radical Albanian groups, because those most impatient found the model of identification, but also because of the possibility of concrete expression. Due to this, what has been called in recent years innocuous verbal radicalism, has now turned into real radical danger for the development of the situation in Kosovo in general.

Using the mystery which still prevails concerning the Kosovo Liberation Army, some foreign media are publishing articles which appear to be objective, and which, when transferred in the Kosovo Albanian press, create unrealistic and romantic notions. about the KLA.

Source: Novi Sad weekly 'Nezavisni', January 20, 1998